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Re: OT: Music books that transcend technique...(was Re: semi-OT: i recommend Victor Wooten's book)



Last night I started applying a couple of the lessons from Wooten's book. I had a jazz duo gig (me + vocalist) where we had to go through the house PA - and it was in the process of dying. We'd be playing and singing up to the climax of a song and it would just cut out completely, only to come in 10 seconds later too loud and distorted. a nightmare. So i ended up playing a lot of solo jazz guitar, because the singer felt that it's less embarrassing for just me to be noodling along when that happens than for both of us. i was game enough - if there's one thing about my personality I'm proud of, it's a low capacity for embarrassment (well, there are probably 2 or 3 others too).

Anyway, playing solo jazz standards on guitar is something that I would say is more-or-less at the edge of my ability. I'm very critical about this - I actually don't even think Joe Pass did it in a manner that I would call musically satisfying. (there are a few cases I can identify that i really like - I've heard Frissell play live solo and found that fully satisfying, and also Alex DeGrassi's Bolivian Blues Bar record is wonderful - but he has 12 strings, I think, and the resonance of an acoustic to help him. And I'm pretty sure Jimmy Bruno can pull this stuff off well).

So I tried to apply 3 aspects inferred from Wooten's book - playing the rests as well as the notes, playing quieter in a noisy bar in order to gain attention, and listening to the audience. And even tho my eyes were closed most of the time, I could actually hear and feel the audience's attention shift, even tho i don't think they were conscious of it, and they probably weren't looking at me. I believe I created several big silent spaces in their discussions where I think they were paying attention to me.

OK, it's a lot of hypothesis without much basis, but so is most of reality :-)


Warren